Consultation with Industry - Task and Solutions Professional Services (TSPS)

Background

The procurement of professional services was identified as part of Public Works and Government Services Canada's Wave II Procurement Transformation Initiatives. The procurement tools that will be established as part of this initiative will give departments better access to contract resources for a wide range of professional services commonly used by most departments, including services for business/change management, project management and human resources. The intent of this initiative is to help departments better meet their operational and strategic requirements where these contract resources are needed.

The new Procurement Instruments will be made up of Standing Offers and Supply Arrangements using common and flexible professional services category descriptions that will simplify the procurement process for client departments. It will complement other service procurement instruments—either already in place or being put in place; e.g. Task Based Informatics Professional Services Project, Temporary Help Services and Professional Services Online.

Consulting industry is a key objective of the process, which is consistent with the overall procurement strategy for developing professional services procurement instruments. It was anticipated that there would be significant constructive feedback received that could be used to develop and improve the procurement methodology and category descriptions. In addition, consultation helps to ensure that the procurement process is fair and transparent and helps minimize significant issues and/or delays from arising during the bidding phase.

Consultation Overview

Between April 2008 and January 2009, Public Works and Government Services Canada consulted with government procurement experts and the professional services industry prior to establishing new procurement tools for task and solutions based professional services.

A Request for Information (RFI) was posted on MERX in April 2008 for a period of two weeks (10 business days). The RFI provided industry with information regarding the project and the applicable professional services streams and objectives. The RFI also invited interested parties from across Canada to participate - either in person or via teleconference - in pre-established stream and/or category specific working groups. This consultation report summarizes the key concerns and questions raised by industry participants during the working group sessions.

Industry stakeholders were consulted regarding the following:

1. Validation of the professional services classifications and the descriptions of each category;
2. The minimum qualifications required for each category of personnel; and,
3. The approach to be taken for each procurement instrument and more specifically:
   
   • the type of procurement tools (Standing Offers and Supply Arrangements);
   • the evaluation criteria; and,
   • the method of selection.

Of note is that the name of the project has changed since the initial posting of the RFI. In April 2008, the project name was "Task and Solutions Based Professional Services" (TSBPS). As a result of the consultation process, many aspects of the project changed, including the working title of the project. The name "Non-IT Professional Services" had been temporarily adopted. However, the name has since been changed again to "Task and Solutions Professional Services" (TSPS) to better reflect the "Tasks"and "Solutions" aspects of the project.

This report is published for information only.

Consultation Process

Number of suppliers consulted:

Via a nationally published Request for Information, suppliers were invited to participate in the consultation sessions. In addition to individual suppliers, 54 companies and 42 associations participated in the consultation process.

Where and when the consultations took place:

All meetings were hosted by Public Works and Government Services Canada at Place du Portage, Phase III, Gatineau, QC.

• April 29, 2008, 16 attendees
• May 8, 2008, 19 attendees
• December 12, 2008, 14 attendees
• December 15, 2008, 18 attendees
• January 20, 2009, 18 attendees
• January 21, 2009, 11 attendees
• January 26, 2009, 17 attendees

Participants not able to attend in person joined the sessions via teleconference.

General information regarding the sessions:

• All interested parties from across Canada were invited to participate - either in person or via teleconference - in pre-established stream and/or category specific working groups. The invitation was issued via a Request for Information posted on MERX.
• The meetings on April 29 and May 8, 2008, were held to present a deck to industry explaining the overview of the project, including the streams, consultant categories, and the consultation process.
• The meetings on December 12 and 15, 2008, were held to present updates of the project, as well as the technical and financial evaluation process.
• The meetings on January 20, 21, and 26, 2009, facilitated client and industry joint discussions, as requested by industry. Discussions focussed on about 5 main subjects: the Supply Arrangement process, the technical evaluation, a flexible grid, travel and living, and consultant categories.
• PWGSC senior management were present at the December and January sessions.
• Further one-on-one meetings with industry were held to clarify points that were brought up at the earlier sessions as well as for those who could not attend on the specified dates.

General outcomes:

• Positive feedback was received from suppliers on the open process used during the consultation process.
• Comments received from industry were incorporated into the documents and tools to the extent it was possible to do so according to the Government of Canada procurement framework.
• Suppliers participating in the consultations were a good cross-section of large and small suppliers. Industry associations also brought many issues and comments from their members across Canada which were deemed representative of the industry.

Industry Comments and PWGSC Responses

1. SMEs' Ability to Qualify

   Industry Input

   Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) raised concerns with regards to the difficulty of qualifying under the proposed mandatory technical evaluation criteria of business volume.

   Concerns were raised that SME joint ventures are not always feasible due to the added complexity and related issues of establishing joint ventures.

   PWGSC Response

   PWGSC will make it easier for SMEs to qualify under the Standing Offers and Supply Arrangements by lowering the business volume required to qualify.

2. Basis of Evaluation

   Industry Input

   Industry participants raised concerns regarding "body shop" procurement—that the evaluations of offers/bids might only be based on price when they should also be based on the experience of the consultant.

   PWGSC Response

   The offers and arrangements evaluation will not be based only on price. The evaluation criteria will focus on previous experience providing professional services. Consultants under the Standing Offers will be ranked on a pricing basis, but only after these experience criteria are met.

   The Supply Arrangements will allow clients to include additional value-added mandatory and rated evaluation criteria on subsequent Requests for Proposals against the pre-qualified supplier pools. This will permit a further assessment of consultants' experience and capacity, or any other criteria they wish to take into account. A variety of basis of selections will be available for clients to choose from (i.e., lowest cost per point, highest combined point score and lowest price) to select best value as opposed to lowest compliant price, as appropriate. Price represents only one component of the basis of selection and clients will be able to decide its weight relative to a bidder's technical merit.

3. Improvement of the Consultant Categories and Flexible Grid

   Industry Input

   The industry participants proposed many improvements to the consultant category descriptions which PWGSC had provided for comment. They also suggested improvements to the method used in determining the level of expertise of the consultants at the Standing Offer call-up stage.

   PWGSC Response

   PWGSC has revised the tasks listed within category descriptions according to comments received; tasks have been added, modified and/or deleted.

   A flexible grid, which provides points for experience, education and certification as appropriate for a proposed resource at the Standing Offer call-up stage, was re-tested and adjusted to make sure allowable points are balanced. This grid will be used to distinguish between a level 1, level 2 and level 3 consultant within a given consultant category.

   A list of certifications is now available for all consultant categories as opposed to individual consultant categories. These are relatively inclusive depending on client requirements. Additional certifications may be added, if required.

4. Tasks and Solutions: Definitions

   Industry Input

   The industry participants were concerned about the clarity of the "Tasks" and "Solutions" definitions. They were not sure if the client would understand when to use one versus the other in a subsequent Request for Proposal issued against the Supply Arrangements.

   PWGSC Response

   The definitions have been rewritten to make them clearer and more concise. PWGSC will provide training to the end user of the tool, including when and how to use the "Tasks" or "Solutions" part of the Supply Arrangement.

5. Professional Services Online

   Industry Input

   The industry participants raised issues regarding the overlap of resources relating to using Professional Services (PS) Online as a complementary tool to TSPS. They had concerns as to how they would know to chose one tool versus another tool, should overlap occur.

   PWGSC Response

   PWGSC confirmed that PS Online will continue to be a procurement tool available for use by client departments. It will also continue to be reviewed as part of PWGSC's ongoing maintenance of the common procurement instruments we provide our clients. This will include a review of consultant categories included in PS Online to ensure it complements other PWGSC procurement tools. Federal departments and agencies will have the choice of using either PS Online or TSPS, but will be encouraged to use PS Online for procurements under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) threshold.

6. Billable per diem rates during travel

   Industry Input

   There was a variety of discussion on this topic. Feedback ranged from requesting the ability to charge full per diem rates while in travel status to billing zero per diem while in travel status.

   If PWGSC allows the contractor to charge 50% of their per diem rate when on travel time, it will become common practice and firms who were not charging before may begin to do so.

   PWGSC Response

   PWGSC will take into consideration industry practice and further review internally prior to issuing the final solicitation.

7. Solutions Technical Evaluation Criteria

   Industry Input

   Many industry participants expressed that the value of the projects requested to qualify for the "Solutions" Supply Arrangements are too high. Though there is much variance, a typical contract value for non-informatics type consultant services in the project management and the business/change management classes is believed to be around $50,000. For the Human Resources Services Class, the values of contracts may be even lower.

   Also, the number of completed projects required at the bidding stage may be too high.

   PWGSC Response

   PWGSC lowered the value of the projects requested to qualify under the "Solutions" Supply Arrangements to better represent the typical value of Professional Services. Lowering the value makes it easier to meet the number of projects required.

8. Supply Arrangements Process

   Industry Input

   Industry participants were concerned about the minimum number of days they will be given to answer a subsequent RFP issued against the Supply Arrangements. They believed it could be sufficient for small requirements, but not enough for most of the larger ones involving multiple resources.

   They also raised concerns regarding the large number of suppliers being invited. Perhaps the Tier limits should be reconsidered?

   PWGSC Response

   The number of days indicated is only a minimum and the client has the opportunity to extend the bidding period according to its requirements. PWGSC will ensure that the clients are properly trained on the system and that they have a clear understanding of the process. Some requirements might need more time than the minimum days indicated due to their complexity or the number of resources requested. In the interest of ensuring adequate competition, PWGSC will ensure an adequate minimum number of suppliers are invited to submit an offer.

9. Directing Call-ups

   Industry Input

   Some industry members informed PWGSC that they would prefer that the TSPS Standing Offers allow clients to direct call-ups to a Standing Offer holder of their choice.

   PWGSC Response

   PWGSC is going to use the "right of first refusal" process only with the Standing Offers. This is a fair and predetermined method for call-ups. Directed call-ups are not a feature of the TSPS Standing Offers. If a department decides to direct a contract, they must meet the exception requirements stipulated by Treasury Board.

Conclusion

• The consultation process improved the tools, making them more in line with industry's wishes while still meeting departments' needs.
• Positive feedback was received from suppliers regarding the openness of the consultation process.

Next steps

• Posting the solicitation documents on the Government Electronic Tendering Service (GETS).
• Awarding the Standing Offers and Supply Arrangements.